Letters
by HARRY.POTTER.QUICHE
Summary: This is a collection of letters written by Luna Lovegood to Hermione Granger over the holidays, after her third (Hermione's fourth) year. To see the other half of the letters, go to Medicine Cat of the Opera's profile. This is for the Owlery Contest.
1. Of Houses and Holidays

Dear Hermione,

Thank you for your letter! I was so worried that you might not have the time, or forget about it, but I am very grateful that you did not. Especially after last year, just like you said. It was very eventful, wasn't it? And it must have been even harder for you, what with being the one in the lake, and your best friend being a champion. I hope that the Ministry might stop denying the inevitable. The Quibbler is telling the truth as far as it can, although nobody really knows much do they?

But on to a less sad topic, yes, Ravenclaw is a wonderful house. The Common Room is just beautiful. There are so many books, and pieces of art, and there is always music playing. Everybody is very friendly and relaxed in the Common Room. And yes, instead of a password we have a riddle. Sometimes, one of us can't get in and has to wait for someone else, so I can feel sorry for Neville. Have you heard from him in the last few weeks, by the way? Is he well?

I understand why the Hat might have put you in my house. You are very clever! But there are other very important things too. You are brave and fit in with Gryffindor; although I can't say I would like to be with the lions very much. But you all have nerves of steel!

My favourite class is Charms! I chose my electives for the first time this year. I am doing Care of Magical Creatures and Study of Ancient Runes. Care of Magical Creatures is a most wonderful subject! One day I hope to be able to study rare creatures all over the world. Supposedly there is a colony of Abraxan ponies in Oman and my dad and I are going for a couple of weeks. I have never seen them before, but I think they are quite similar to thestrals.

As for my earrings, the radish ones, I got them in the Philippines. They have a myth over there that they help ward off nargles, and I must say they have proved quite effective. I also think they look rather nice. I can get you a pair, if you like them? As for the Quibbler, I do sometimes help my dad, but not often. Maybe one day I might be an assistant editor, or something of the sort. It would be very fascinating.

I believe it is my turn to ask you questions (I hope my answers have been satisfactory). What is it like in the muggle world? I understand that you eat a lot of similar foods, but I wonder if you know what haggis is. I have been asking around but I don't really understand it. Also, Harry tells me your parents are dentists. I have heard they are quite scary, and I was hoping you could enlighten me as to what they do exactly? And finally, are you going on holiday anywhere nice this year? Do muggles have the same vacations as us, or do you treat them differently?

I hope you can answer my questions and that you can reply quickly. I am afraid my letter took a while because your postal owl didn't seem to know where to find me, and gave your letter to my father who forgot to tell me about it!

Sincerely,

Luna Lovegood

P.S Even with the mistake, your owl was very pleasant and has been helping me with letters since! This owl, however, is my aunt's. His name is Eli. I don't have an owl myself, I prefer having a cat as a school pet, and using postal owls is easy enough. Feel free to use Eli for a reply!


	2. Of Thestrals and Cats

Dear Hermione,

First of all, since you brought up Cedric, I wondered how well you knew him. Cedric seemed like a very kind and brave champion for Hogwarts, and I thought you might have known him well if he became friends with Harry. Does Harry speak about the tournament at all? Were all the champions nice? Oh, and of course you were friends with Viktor Krum! I'm sorry if it seems insensitive asking about Cedric, but my dad wanted to write something in his memory for the Quibbler, but I didn't know him at all well.

I don't know much about Gryffindor but it sounds like a wonderful common room and the anti-boys mechanism sounds very effective! I would have liked to see Ron fall down the stairs! I have never seen a boy attempt to ascend into the girls' dormitories in Ravenclaw. I wonder if they have the same defence.

Neville and I know each other quite well, yes, but I didn't see him much at the end of the year. Houses sticking together and all.

I'm sure you'll be fine with OWLs and that you should all be happy with whatever results you get. I guess it depends what you want to become after you finish school. Do you have any idea what you want to do?

Yes, I can see the Thestrals. They are beautiful. I don't mind talking about it; it was my mother, but a long time ago. I'm surprised you have studied them, to be honest. They aren't in the curriculum until 5th year, although I suppose Hagrid is a very unusual teacher. I prefer him to Professor Grubbly-Plank though. She wasn't very kind and she laughed when I asked her about Snorkacks and Nargles.

Nargles, when you can see them, look like little flies and they hang around people's ears. Most people don't have many, but more appear if someone is feeling dizzy, absent-minded or infatuated/in love. There was a little bit of controversy about that a few years ago; are they attracted to people who aren't thinking clearly or do they cause you to not think clearly? Certainly, when my mind is feeling fuzzy, there are plenty around, but are they a cause or result? As for the earrings, it wouldn't be that much hassle to get hold of some, if you would like them.

As for your teeth healers, we use spells to keep them straight and clean. A lot of them are done when you are very young, along with several enchantments that ward off diseases. I believe you have equivalents called injections? They are kind of like that, but then you do have to look after your teeth, and clean them every day so maybe twice a year would be preferable. If your parents are dentists, does that mean you are not allowed many sweets? And what is a cavity?

I think that Germany is a lovely place this time of year, although I haven't been in years. My dad and I travel a lot, but we don't often revisit a place, unless he is doing several articles or papers on them. Did you know that my dad often writes papers about magical creatures he has found and sends them to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry? He always hides their replies from me, but I think they are grateful for any new information we can give them about a rare animal.

Why does Ron hate your cat? And what type of cat is he? Mine is a girl called Bast and she is all black and very lazy. At first we thought she was a baby Lynx, but it turned she was just a normal cat, not even a magical one. She is very pretty though.

I hope this letter reaches you soon.

Sincerely,

Luna Lovegood


	3. Of Careers and Toads

**Quidditch Pitch: It fell.**

…

Dear Hermione,

I hope the owl's okay! Is the weather really bad where you are? It's not great here, but no thunderstorms!

Yes, Cedric was in Hufflepuff. My potions partner, Thomas (a Hufflepuff), had a massive crush on him during the tournament, so I heard a lot about him , By the sound of it, every student in his house liked him! Did I ask you about Krum as well? I can't remember if I did. What was the Yule Ball like? I was too young to go.

As for boys coming into the girls' dorms, I am simultaneously hoping that it will and won't happen. There is a girl in my dorm, Jennifer, who is often in a boy's dorm, so I bet she knows if we have the 'sliding stairs' protection. I'll ask her when we get back to school in September. Are you looking forward to it, or dreading it? Most people I have talked to so far seemed to laugh at the idea of wanting to go back to school, and while I don't _want_ to go back exactly, I don't think of it as a sad thing.

I don't know who Parkinson is, but I do agree that the houses should be friendlier. Gryffindor and Slytherin particularly don't like each other, although I am not exactly sure why not. I think if Gryffindor decided to be nicer to Slytherin students then the other houses would follow. If the Slytherin house didn't have such a reputation for being 'evil' or 'bad' than Slytherins would be nicer, and just as friendly as the other houses. What's wrong with being ambitious after all?

I think being a teacher at Hogwarts wouldn't be my ideal job, but I can see how it might appeal to a lot of people. Librarian, on the other hand, I completely understand! It would be nice, and relaxing, and being surrounded by books is very calming. I personally am only a fan of fiction, but I have come to appreciate the smell and subconscious effect from books, from my Common Room, the library, and my own home. I'm sure Harry will be a wonderful auror, and I think is seems entirely possible that Ron will join him, don't you think? They are good friends and it is probably easier to work with someone you know, as an auror. I'm still thinking about what I want to do. I could help with the Quibbler. Or be a magizoologist.

Thestrals are sort of black, bony horses, with white eyes and big leathery wings. Some people find them creepy, but I think of them as a cross between dragons and horses, both of which are beautiful creatures. I go down to the forest and feed them sometimes. They know me.

Nargles, I can't always see, unlike Thestrals. You have to be wearing these special glasses to be able to see them. They are quite common, but ringing in your ears is only caused by having _a lot_ of them around you, which isn't that common. Most ringing is nothing to do with Nargles. I don't know about the muggle methods, but if you get your ears pierced by a wizard, it isn't painful at all. Given your question, I assume it is painful when done by muggles. How do they do it?

I assume you love Honeydukes then! I am not a massive fan of the place, as my father revealed last year in the magazine that Honeydukes use goblin slaves to make their products and advised people bot to go there. Not many people believed on that one. It was one of his most scorned articles. Daddy's normally very good about letters from angry people, but this one made him rather angry as well. Cavities sound horrific! If piercings are painful, and people get paid for drilling into bones, then I sure am glad not to be a muggle!

I've never met someone with a rat before. Are you allowed to bring rats to Hogwarts? I thought it was toads. I've met Neville's, Trevor. He was quite fond of me, and once ran away from the Gryffindor Common Room and hid in my bag for a whole day! I didn't even know he was there! I felt very guilty when I found out that Neville had been looking for him all day. We found out because Neville had taken my bag, what with it having lots of textbooks in, so I could carry my cauldron (I lost my collapsible one) and when he put my bag down, it was right on the edge of a table! It fell. Of course, Trevor jumped out of the bag, scaring Neville and making him knock everything on the table over!

Sincerely,

Luna Lovegood


End file.
